Despite successful attempts to control environmental exposures, they remain an international problem in environmental/occupational health. The New York Academy of Sciences and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, will jointly present a 2.5-day conference, The Bone Marrow Niche, Stem Cells, and Leukemia: Impact of Drugs, Chemicals and the Environment, at the New York Academy of Sciences on May 29-31, 2013, convening approximately 200 representatives of two disparate fields of research, toxicology and hematology, around a jointly shared goal - to better understand, prevent, and treat myeloid neoplasms. The main objectives of this conference are to: (i) Provide a neutral forum for discussion of the current and emerging concepts of bone marrow niche biology, including the maturation and differentiation of healthy and leukemogenic hematopoietic stem cells, and the environmental, chemical, and genetic factors involved in the development of myeloid abnormalities; (ii) Attract/showcase early career, female and underrepresented ethnic/racial minority investigators via short talks, posters, travel fellowships, and discounted registration, and provide opportunities to interact with senior investigators; (iii) Disseminate the conference proceedings to the global community; and (iv) Foster collaboration between academia, clinicians, government and regulatory agencies, and the chemical industry to promote a knowledge exchange leading to successful translation of research into improved patient therapies and policy. Conference sessions will combine basic science and toxicology research at the level of the bone marrow niche with clinical findings from healthy subjects and patients. Networking events, early career and minority investigator short talks, panel discussions, and a Poster Session will provide opportunities for interaction among the multidisciplinary participants who may not otherwise interact at a single scientific meeting, including toxicologists, environmental scientists, molecular and cellular biologists, and clinical researchers examining the effects of the environment, chemicals, and clinical therapeutics on bone marrow development, as well as clinical hematologists, oncologists, physicians and researchers that specialize in leukemia, lymphoma, and other disorders of the blood and bone marrow. Discussions originating from the conference and their dissemination via publication in a volume of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences will have global impact and ultimately aid in the prevention of myelodysplasia, acute myelogenous leukemia and other disorders of the bone marrow, and contribute to the development of anti-cancer therapeutics with reduced risk of therapy-induced secondary cancers. Only through cross-field collaborative research envisioned as a result of this conference can we fully understand the mechanisms by which stem cells develop in, and environmental factors harm, the bone marrow niche, and identify ways in which to reduce the risk of bone marrow damage from new therapeutics.